I spent 3 weeks in the Saharawi refugee camps in Smara, El Aaiun, Bojador and also Rabuni.
In all the camps you see buildings with blue logos of UNHCR, UNICEF etc. I saw a MINURSO logo.
But human beings, employees of these organisations, missions, institutions… not one.
I asked, and I was attentive, not one during all this time.
Isabel Lourenço – PUSL.- I found it strange. Aren’t these the organisations that claim to be on the ground? Or do they just send the paint and stencil to be painted on walls, behind which the tiny, not to say ridiculous “aid” is the reason for so much marketing?
I asked about MINURSO, of which I have heard and read that they are always on the ground and very attentive to drawing up reports …. now I understand the flaws of the reports, you can’t document what you can’t see.
They live in Tindouf on their premises or in hotels, I was told. Tindouf is the Algerian city closest to the camps and with conditions far superior to a refugee camp, as you can imagine, being a municipality like so many others in Algeria with infrastructures, transport, commerce and everything that a city can offer.
As you can see on the MINURSO website (https://minurso.unmissions.org/gallery-tindouf) the “employees” post photos of their beautiful building and their 4×4 cars with which they like to go to the dunes and watch the sunset. They also love to take photos with the “poor refugee” children in the good neo-colonial manner of those who are going to do “good”.
There is also a photo of the café where they like to meet at the end of the day. Anyone who sees the photos thinks they are looking at memories of a holiday in the dunes.
UNICEF is another example of “aid with invisible employees”. The only thing I saw from UNICEF besides a lot of logos was a packet of 10 biscuits that are given to primary school children and that packet has to be divided by two pupils. That means 5 biscuits 5 times a week during the school term. Bravo! Curiously, on the Unicef website “gifts for life” (https://help.unicef.org/go-blue-unicef-world-children-day) I did not see any identical package of biscuits.
As we all know most of the budget of these organizations is for their own sustenance. Each one can think what they want and rationalise this fact as they wish.
If we go back to the source (https://www.unicef.org/algeria/communiqués-de-presse/40000-enfants-sahraouis-scolarisés-grâce-à-un-partenariat-entre-lunion), UNICEF together with the European Union “helped” with 1.7 million Euros the education system in the refugee camps. This is equivalent to 42,4 Euros per child in the 4 years to which the donation refers or 10,63 Euros per year/child or 0,03 Euros per day. Bravo!
If we want to be more specific, this value of 0.03 euros per child would have to be divided in two, resulting in 0.014 euros, since we are talking about the European Union and UNICEF.
I am not going to compare again how much Morocco, the culprit of these children living in exile, receives from the European Union in “aid” and “incentives” and “counterparts” and who knows how much it will receive for the construction of football stadiums, but you can read the article published in PUSL (https://porunsaharalibre.org/2016/09/21/refugiados-saharauis-necesitan-121-millones-euros-sobrevivir-ano-la-ue-da-195-000-euros-marruecos-operaciones-maquillaje/).
I believe it is “uncomfortable” and more “difficult” to work on the ground in the refugee camps than in Tindouf. I say I believe it because I have no means of making a personal comparison as I have never been in a hotel in Tindouf, having worked during this time in the camps, on the floor, without chair or table and almost never with internet coverage. I slept on a mattress on the ground like all the people who live there, I washed myself once a day or every other day with 3 glasses of non-potable water. Even so the conditions I had were far superior to the inhabitants of the camps.
Saharawis in exile since 1975, because of the brutal military occupation by Morocco of their country which is full of natural riches. A very serious violation of international law and a disgrace for the international community.
Ban Ki Moon was surprised by the anger he saw in the refugees against the UN during his visit (read: https://porunsaharalibre.org/2023/03/10/ban-ki-moon-and-western-sahara/?lang=en) I was struck by the absence of hatred and by the great dignity of these refugees and their unshakeable certainty that they will fight for their homeland until the end.
